Forming fibre-plastics composites
First Claim
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1. A method of forming a three dimensional shaped article of a plastics composite comprising superimposed layers of fibers dispersed in a matrix of a thermoformable material, comprising the steps ofproviding a body of said composite to be reshaped and having a first side and a second side;
- contacting at least the first side of said body of said composite with a sheet of a metal which is capable of being plastically deformed at an elevated temperature,clamping edges of said metal sheet to prevent movement of said edges during subsequent deformation, and applying vacuum to remove air from between said metal sheet and said body to bring the composite body tightly against the metal sheet and to provide support for said body;
bringing the metal sheet and the composite body to an elevated temperature at which the metal sheet can be substantially plastically deformed and at which the composite body can conform to the plastically deformed shape of the metal sheet, andapplying fluid pressure to the metal sheet while the second side of the composite body is at least partly reshaped by a mold so that the metal sheet becomes substantially plastically deformed to a relatively new deep shaped geometry and the first side of the composite body is formed to the relatively deep shaped new geometry by the plastic deformation of the metal sheet, including relative movement of the fibers of the superimposed layers to accommodate themselves to the new geometry without buckling, the shape of the plastics composite thereby obtained being defined on at least said first side by the plastic flow of the metal sheet.
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Abstract
A plastics composite of fibres in a thermoformable matrix is formed by contacting the composite with a sheet of metal and deforming the metal plastically. The thermoformable matrix may be thermoplastic or thermosetting and the metal may be superplastic. The matrix may be deformed between the sheet and another sheet or between the sheet and a mould. Thin bodies of complex shape may be formed.
134 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of forming a three dimensional shaped article of a plastics composite comprising superimposed layers of fibers dispersed in a matrix of a thermoformable material, comprising the steps of
providing a body of said composite to be reshaped and having a first side and a second side; -
contacting at least the first side of said body of said composite with a sheet of a metal which is capable of being plastically deformed at an elevated temperature, clamping edges of said metal sheet to prevent movement of said edges during subsequent deformation, and applying vacuum to remove air from between said metal sheet and said body to bring the composite body tightly against the metal sheet and to provide support for said body; bringing the metal sheet and the composite body to an elevated temperature at which the metal sheet can be substantially plastically deformed and at which the composite body can conform to the plastically deformed shape of the metal sheet, and applying fluid pressure to the metal sheet while the second side of the composite body is at least partly reshaped by a mold so that the metal sheet becomes substantially plastically deformed to a relatively new deep shaped geometry and the first side of the composite body is formed to the relatively deep shaped new geometry by the plastic deformation of the metal sheet, including relative movement of the fibers of the superimposed layers to accommodate themselves to the new geometry without buckling, the shape of the plastics composite thereby obtained being defined on at least said first side by the plastic flow of the metal sheet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of forming a shaped article of a plastics composite comprising fibers dispersed in a matrix of a thermoformable material, comprising the steps of
providing a body of said composite to be reshaped and having a first side and a second side; -
confining both said first and second sides of said body of said composite between sheets of metal which are capable of being plastically deformed at an elevated temperature; restraining the edges of said metal sheets; bringing said metal sheets and the body to an elevated temperature at which the metal sheets can be plastically deformed and at which the body can conform to the shape of the metal sheets; applying fluid pressure to one of the metal sheets at such a pressure so that the metal sheets are plastically stretched relative to the restrained edges and the body is formed to shape between the stretched metal sheets, the shape of the plastics composite thereby obtained being defined by the plastic flow of the metal sheets; and separating the stretched metal sheets from the resultant shaped article. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification